Heart of the Sunset

g succession of tortures during which she experienced for a second time the agonies of thirst and fatigue and despair. Extreme physical ordeals, like profound emotional upheavals, leave imprints

hours of the night she slept hardly at all, and as soon as her bodily discomfort began to decrease her mind became unruly. Twice she rose and limped to the water-hole for a drink, and it

w. Somewhere near by an unfamiliar bird was sweetly trilling. Alaire listened dreamily until

oked it lifted its head, then with wet, trembling muzzle caressed its owner's cheek. Undoubtedly this attention was meant for a kiss, and was as daintily conferred as any woman's favor. It brought a reward in a lump of sugar. There followed an exhibition of equine

ng," said M

e approached around the edge of the pool, hi

a fine hor

long all right. I hope w

oo tired to

orward, looked over his shoulder inquisitively. "Tell the lady good morning, Bessie Belle," he directed. The

s. Austin laughed. "You t

lumb ignorant. But she's got all the airs of a fine lady now

with a sw

" Again Bessie Belle tossed her head high. "That's 'yes,' with the reverse English," the speaker explained

ever you

essie Belle would sure be offended if she un

really b

in the military position for close shooting. From where he sat he commanded an unobstructed view of the thicket's edge. Next he moistened his lips and uttered an indescribable low whistle. At intervals he repeated the call, while the woman looked on with interest. Suddenly out of the grass burst a blue quail, running with wings outstretched and every feather ruffled angrily. It paused, the man's cheeks

n they've just started housek

en cleanly severed. "That is quite wonderful"

turkeys the same wa

at brings them out, all ruff

ake has got me. I reckon each one thinks the other is in troub

t she saw him by daylight, had begun to challenge her interest. Of late years she had purposely avoided men, and circumstances had not permitted her to s

m and somber. The nose was prominent and boldly arched, the ears large and pronounced and standing well away from the head; the mouth was thin-lipped and mobile. Alaire tried to read that bronzed visage, with little success until she closed her eyes and regarded the mental image. Then she found the answer: Law had the face and the head of a hunter. The alert ears, the watchful eyes, the predatory nose were like those of some hunting animal. Yes, that was decidedly the strongest impressi

pression Law had made upon her, for on general principles she chose to dislike and

while she ate. Alaire could not catch his eyes upon her, except when he spoke, at which tim

s county. There has been a lot of stealing down our way, and

admitted. "But there is stealing all up and dow

ostly h

need horse

formed a sort of vigilance committee in

scarce, them Greasers would steal the dogs and eat 'em." H

you tr

ef we got in the Philippines." Then, in answer to her u

a privat

es

ss her surprise without too personal an implication. "I can't

most UNcommon soldier out there. I had a speakin' acquaintance w

you enlist-a

g. I guess I needed the excitement. I have t

he Maderistas f

ns land. An honest Mexican is worth fightin' for, anywhere. The pelados are stil

fighting because they are told to fight.

stirring inside them. They don't know exactly what it is, perhaps, but it is there. Mexico has outgro

eaker with startled intensity. "You don't talk like a-like a

good, too. Why, I had a picture of the Bastille once." He pronounced it "Bastilly," and his hearer settled back. "That was so

e place wher

ight smart for such a young la

ad, and I only came

tood. "I'll bet you hablar those French and German lingoes l

Spanish,

orn in Mexico, as ne

speak some of the

m, a

ld is full of such, and the frontier is their gathering-place. Mrs. Austin had met a number of men like Law, and to her they seemed to be the true soldiers of fortune-fellows who lived purely for the fun of living, and leavened their days with adventure. They were buoyant souls, for the most part, drifting with the tide, resentful of authority and free from care; meeting each day with enthusiastic expectancy for what it held in

ine impulse, she felt urged to add her own touch to what nature had roughed out. This man

to read?" s

ise." Law's blue-gray eyes were expr

ks at Las Palmas. You mi

ook into this cattle-stealin' in your neighb

hen I get back," said Alaire,

lle, we're going to improve our minds," he said, aloud. "We're going to be literary and read Pilgrim's Progress and Alice

t freely, there Dave fixed a comfortable couch for hi

on; the heat had lent a feverish flush to her cheeks; Dave could count the slow pulsations of her white throat. He closed his eyes and tried to quell his unruly longings. He was a strong man; adventurous days and nights spent in the open had coarsened the masculine side of his character, perhaps at expense to his

upon him awoke his deepest chivalry. Then, too, the knowledge that her life was unhappy, indeed tragic, filled him with a sort of wondering pity. As he continued to look at her these feelings grew until finally he turned away his

shelter of another tree, there to content

d since there was really nothing for her to do until the heat

in her presence, and now her superior wisdom seemed to excite the Ranger's liveliest admiration. Only now and then, as if in an unguarded moment, did he appear to forget himself and speak with an auth

k drifted thither, for at the moment it was the one vitally interesting topic alon

Eden. We civilized peoples are only a lap or two ahead of the uncivilized ones. When you think that it takes ten thousand generations to develop a plant and root out some of its early he

o issue from a sun-browned cowboy sitt

there had come a vague hostility. For the moment she was suspicious and piqued, b

re born on the other side?" She in

, over some land or something. It was when the Don was gobbling all the property in the state, and laying the foundation for his big fortune. You know he had

he su

led 'em, but

tener was shocked. "A

could get 'em, either-for I was away at school; but after I came back from the Philippines the Madero fuss was just brewing, so I went over and joined it. But it didn't last long

he arroyo baked and the heat devils danced on the hills; but the unpleasantness was of brief duration, and Law always managed to banish boredom. Nor did he seem to waste a thought upon the nature of

tin became restless, he saddled Bessie Belle a

ashes of the fire, gathered up the tell-tale scraps of paper and fragment

est. "Where shall I go," she

It may be a long wait, for something may have happened. If so we'll have to

e shadow of the bluffs began to stretch out. The shallow pool lay silent, deserted save for furtive li

was only the advance-guard of a bunch of brush cattle coming to water. They paused at a distance, and nothing except their thirst finally overcame their suspicions.

e water-hole

uetted against the pearl-gray heaven like an equestrian statue. How long they had been there Alaire had no faintest notion. Perhaps it was their coming which had alarmed the cattle. She was conscious that a keen and hostile pair of eyes was searching the coverts surrounding the charco. Then, as silently as it had appeared, the apparition vanished beyond

He was astride a wiry gray pony, and in the strong twilight Alaire could see his every feature-the swarthy cheeks, the roving eyes beneath the black felt hat. A carbine lay across his sa

de straight to the verge of the water-hole and dis

yes and ears, but no command came from the Ranger. After a while the traveler rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. Next he

plan? Had something happened to him? Alaire was startled b

a second horseman appeared, and the woman